Israeli agunah freed after 14 years, Ethiopians in Petach Tikva claim marriage discrimination, and a cult leader in Israel is going to jail. Stateside, actor and musician Hershey Felder brings Leonard Bernstein to life onstage, and Meredith Ganzman has the story in a special preview from TJC’s new theater show ROW J; Christian Niedan hears from author Joshua Wolf Shenk and screenwriter Mark Boal about the creative power of working in twos; and a peek at Steven I. Weiss’ UP CLOSE interview with Prof. Carmel Chiswick about the intersection of Jewish life and economics as laid out in her book, Judaism in Transition: How Economic Choices Shape Religious Tradition.

This week on Up Close, what happens to our ideas of the present when we shift our perspective on the past?

First, historian Rick Perlstein may change your perspective on the 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan. Perlstein examines the pre-presidential life of Reagan in his book The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan.

Then, NYU professor Lawrence Schiffman goes back 2,000 years to explore the little-known Jewish texts that didn’t make it into the Bible as we know it today but have much to teach about Jewish life in the pre-Rabbinic period. Schiffman is co-editor of the new three-volume work Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blames Hamas for civilian deaths in Gaza conflict; a return to settlement building in the West Bank draws criticism from the U.S. and center-left Israelis; take a tour of The Actor’s Temple via a sneak peek at TJC’s brand new theater series, “Row J,” hosted by Meredith Ganzman; a look at the new documentary “Kabbalah Me” and what inspired filmmaker Steven Bram to make it; and highlights from Steven I. Weiss’ “Up Close” interview with author Ron Perlstein about his book “The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan.”

This week on Up Close, two memoirs that look at what it means to be an adult, from nearly opposite ends.

First, comedian, actor and writer Annabelle Gurwitch talks about the complications of being in the “sandwich generation” — having to take care of teenage children and elderly parents at the same time. Her new memoir is I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50.

Then, author Joanna Rakoff takes us back 20 years to when she was just setting out on a career. She recalls her curious experiences working for J.D. Salinger’s publishing company, and the trials and tribulations of becoming an adult in the 1990s, in her memoir, My Salinger Year.

This week on Up Close, we look at major Jewish sages, past and present.

First, renowned scholar, commentator and translator Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz speaks about his work on the Talmud and his book about the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, My Rebbe. Rabbi Steinsaltz is the author of what may well become the most-read commentary on the Talmud in its history, the Koren Talmud, and is a popularizer of the text known for his erudition.

Then, Dr. Ronald Eisenberg, a physician specializing in radiology, discusses how a side-gig of sorts in digging deep into Jewish studies has yielded his encyclopedic work on Essential Figures in Jewish Scholarship.

Steven I. Weiss examines the popular claims and rumors circulating in media coverage of the Gaza War, and what is at stake for Israel going forward. Christian Niedan reports on a new photography exhibition at Yeshiva University Museum, “Echoes of the Borscht Belt”, which looks at the current decrepit state of iconic hotels in upstate New York, which housed thousands of Jewish vacationers over many decades. And “Up Close” with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, discussing his book on the Talmud, and another about the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

World leaders may be stepping back from their support of Israel in the Gaza conflict, but not Russian Jews in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn: Chris Niedan covers a pro-Israel rally in that community. Also, for the holiday of Tu B’Av, the “Jewish Valentine’s Day,” Meredith Ganzman gets advice from marriage and relationship expert Chana Levitan, author of I Only Want to Get Married Once; and take a peek at Steven I. Weiss’ “Up Close” interview with Judith Frank, author of the novel “All I Love and Know.”

This horrible piece written by an idiot contains sentiments that should be condemned by every decent person, and especially by members of the Jewish community, who bear responsibility for the actions of our fellows.

The good news is that there’s no reason to think his views are anything approaching mainstream.

In specific, many get confused by the title of a website called “Times of Israel,” thinking it’s a legitimate, major news outlet. But it’s not: it’s basically a very-low-rent version of the Huffington Post, where almost anyone can publish almost anything with essentially no editorial filter or control. It’s more or less an open publishing platform, like WordPress or Blogger, with some patina of legitimacy conferred to its random authors by its name and design, and the fact that it does employ some serious and qualified news reporters to craft some of its content in other sections than “Ops & Blogs,” where this piece appeared.

That’s why I could confidently tweet that “I’m calling for termination of any editorial personnel involved in @TimesofIsrael ‘genocide’ post. As it happens, that’s likely no one.” There are two parts to that: anyone involved in publishing it should be fired, but it’s quite a stretch to think anyone of any significance was involved in publishing that.

So the Times of Israel is not, as Gawker has it, “an Israeli paper,” nor does the piece qualify as a “column.” It’s repugnant and idiotic, but it’s just one idiot’s opinion that doesn’t rest on the decision-making of any experienced editorial personnel at any significant journalism outlet. Further, to get a sense of how similar views are received in Israel, look at the saga of Rabbi Dov Lior, who was arrested for saying much less.

Separate and apart from that, one semi-real Jewish newspaper did publish the piece on its website here in the States. That’d be the 5 Towns Jewish Times, whose editor and publisher, Larry Gordon, is the father of the idiot who wrote that post, Yochanan Gordon. The 5TJT is more ad circular than newspaper, with no real investment in original reporting or experienced journalists involved. Nonetheless, this is serious stuff.

Perhaps a similar move would be appropriate here, with the 5TJT, but there are a few reasons that might be uncalled for: Yochanan Gordon, I’ve heard in the past, is just an ad salesperson with little to no involvement in editorial matters; the 5TJT removed the post, seemingly within a few hours of its being posted, and didn’t run the item in its paper; and the 5TJT posted a strongly-worded apology in which it argued that the piece “escaped [editors'] proper attention.” Maybe.

Gordon’s words deserve the strong condemnation of the entire Jewish community. And those who may have helped him spread those words deserve punishment, as well. But it would be an error to assume that his publishing them where he did means anything significant about Jewish or Israeli sentiment.

This week on Up Close, we explore the relationship between justice and the law.

First, New York Times Op-Ed editor Clay Risen, discusses his book The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act, in which he explores why the Civil Rights Act was necessary and the behind-the-scenes negotiations that allowed it to pass, a feat that seemed unlikely at first.

Then, Columbia University professor Bernard Harcourt explains the latest, posthumously-published, work by famed 20th century moral philosopher Michel Foucault, Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling: The Function of Avowal in Justice. Harcourt is the book’s co-editor, along with Fabienne Brion, and developed it from a series of lectures given by Foucault later in his life and which he never had a chance to publish.